Efficiently storing indented threads in a threaded discussion application

ABSTRACT

A method, apparatus, and computer-readable media for retrieving records in a hierarchical set of the records having a plurality of hierarchical levels and a plurality of hierarchical depths, each of the records having a tag that is unique within the hierarchical set of the records, comprises identifying one of the records in the hierarchical set of the records; modifying the tag, thereby producing a key; indexing the hierarchical set of the records only once, thereby selecting one or more of the records within the hierarchical set of the records, wherein indexing the hierarchical set of the records only once comprises applying the key to the hierarchical set of the records; and retrieving the selected records.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of U.S. Non-provisional patentapplication Ser. No. 10/085,780, “Efficiently Storing Indented ThreadsIn A Threaded Discussion Application,” by Frieden et al., filed Feb. 28,2002 now U.S. Pat No. 7,031,977 the disclosure thereof incorporatedherein by reference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates generally to data management, andparticularly to managing data stored hierarchically.

Hierarchical data sets are useful and popular. Such data sets aregenerally composed of multiple records. In a hierarchical set ofrecords, a record can have multiple “children,” which are related to therecord and exist at a lower level of the hierarchy. Such a record isreferred to as the “parent” record of the children records. The childrenof a record may have children, and so on, limited only by the size ofthe database. Within a set of children of a single record, it is oftenuseful to order the children, such that there is a first child, a secondchild, and so on.

To date the utility of these hierarchical data sets has been limited bythe efficiency of the tools available for managing the data.Conventional methods of storing hierarchical data in a database involvemultiple expensive calls to update and/or query the database. Forexample, in order to select the second grandchild of a record, threequeries are necessary. The first query selects the child of the record.The second query selects the first child of the child. The third queryselects the second child of the child.

SUMMARY

In general, in one aspect, the invention features a method, apparatus,and computer-readable media for retrieving records in a hierarchical setof the records having a plurality of hierarchical levels and a pluralityof hierarchical depths, each of the records having a tag that is uniquewithin the hierarchical set of the records. It comprises identifying oneof the records in the hierarchical set of the records; modifying thetag, thereby producing a key; indexing the hierarchical set of therecords only once, thereby selecting one or more of the records withinthe hierarchical set of the records, wherein indexing the hierarchicalset of the records only once comprises applying the key to thehierarchical set of the records; and retrieving the selected records.

Particular implementations can include one or more of the followingfeatures. Applying comprises selecting those of the records in thehierarchical set of the records having a tag that matches the key.Identifying one of the records comprises receiving a selection of theone of the records from a user; and receiving a command from the user;and wherein modifying the tag is based on the command from the user.Each of the records has one or more fields, and implementations cancomprise displaying a field of each of the retrieved records on adisplay, wherein the position of each of the fields on the displayrepresents the hierarchical depth and hierarchical level of thecorresponding one of the retrieved records. Each tag is a number havinga plurality of digits; the position of each of the digits represents oneof the hierarchical depths; the value of each of the digits representsone of the hierarchical levels; and modifying the tag comprisesselecting at least one of the digits according to the command from theuser; and changing the value of the selected digits according to thecommand from the user. Each tag is a number having a plurality ofdigits; the position of each of the digits represents one of thehierarchical depths; the value of each of the digits represents one ofthe hierarchical levels; the command from the user requests retrievingthe children of the identified record; and modifying the tag comprisesselecting the digit corresponding to the hierarchical depth of theidentified record; and setting the value of each digit corresponding toa hierarchical depth below the hierarchical depth corresponding to theselected digit to a wildcard value. Each tag is a number having aplurality of digits; the position of each of the digits represents oneof the hierarchical depths; the value of each of the digits representsone of the hierarchical levels; the command from the user requestsretrieving the parent of the identified record; and modifying the tagcomprises selecting the digit corresponding to the hierarchical depth ofthe identified record; and setting the value of the selected digit to anull value. Each of the records represents one of a message and afolder.

In general, in one aspect, the invention features a method, apparatus,and computer-readable media for adding a new record to a hierarchicalset of records having a plurality of hierarchical levels and a pluralityof hierarchical depths, each of the records in the hierarchical set ofrecords having a tag that is unique within the hierarchical set ofrecords. It comprises identifying one of the records in the hierarchicalset of records as the parent of the new record; modifying the tag,thereby producing a key; adding the key to the new record; and indexingthe hierarchical set of records only once, thereby adding the new recordto the hierarchical set of records, wherein indexing the hierarchicalset of records only once comprises applying the key to the hierarchicalset of records.

Particular implementations can include one or more of the followingfeatures. Identifying one of the records comprises receiving a selectionof the one of the records from a user. Each tag is a number having aplurality of digits; the position of each of the digits represents oneof the hierarchical depths; the value of each of the digits representsone of the hierarchical levels; the identified record represents amessage; identifying one of the records further comprises receiving acommand from the user that requests replying to the message; andmodifying the tag comprises selecting the digit corresponding to thehierarchical depth immediately below the hierarchical depth of theidentified record; and incrementing the value of the selected digit.Applying comprises selecting those of the records in the hierarchicalset of the records having a tag that matches the key. Each tag includesa plurality of digits; the position of each of the digits represents oneof the hierarchical depths; and the value of each of the digitsrepresents one of the hierarchical levels.

In general, in one aspect, the invention features a method, apparatus,and computer-readable media for selecting records in a hierarchical setof the records having a plurality of hierarchical levels and a pluralityof hierarchical depths, each of the records having a tag that is uniquewithin the hierarchical set of the records. It comprises identifying oneof the records in the hierarchical set of the records; modifying thetag; and indexing the hierarchical set of the records only once, therebyselecting one or more of the records within the hierarchical set of therecords, wherein indexing the hierarchical set of the records only oncecomprises applying the modified tag to the hierarchical set of therecord.

Particular implementations can include one or more of the followingfeatures. Each tag includes a plurality of digits; the position of eachof the digits represents one of the hierarchical depths; and the valueof each of the digits represents one of the hierarchical levels.Applying comprises selecting those of the records in the hierarchicalset of the records having a tag that matches the key.

Advantages that can be seen in implementations of the invention includeone or more of the following. Implementations of the present inventionpermit manipulation of a database representing an indented threadeddiscussion with only a single access of the database. For examples,messages can be added, deleted, and retrieved through a single databaseaccess such as a query or call.

The details of one or more implementations are set forth in theaccompanying drawings and the description below. Other features will beapparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a display of an indented threaded discussion.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a process for retrieving the parent of amessage in an indented threaded discussion according to oneimplementation.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a process for retrieving the children of amessage in an indented threaded discussion according to oneimplementation.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a process for adding a message to an indentedthreaded discussion according to one implementation.

The leading digit(s) of each reference numeral used in thisspecification indicates the number of the drawing in which the referencenumeral first appears.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

One common type of hierarchical data is an indented threaded discussion.Originally found only in Internet newsgroups, indented threadeddiscussions have found increasing popularity as a way to manage anddisplay a discussion among multiple participants. Indented threadeddiscussion management tools are now found in consumer products such aselectronic mail software programs.

FIG. 1 shows a display of an indented threaded discussion. An indentedthreaded discussion begins when a user posts a message 102 in a forumavailable to multiple users, where the posted message is not a reply toanother message. Such a message is referred to herein as the “origin”message of the discussion. Any origin message constitutes the “head” ofa thread. Thus message 102 is both the origin message of a discussionand the head of a thread. All replies to a message are part of thethread. Of course, a forum can have multiple discussions.

When a user posts a reply to a message, the reply is generally displayedunderneath the message, and indented once. Any message having replies toit is the head of a thread. Thus a discussion can have many threads. Thehead of thread is indented once relative to the message to which itreplies.

Message 104 is a reply to message 102. Therefore, reply 104 is displayedunderneath message 102, and indented once, as shown in FIG. 1. A reply106 to the reply 104 is indented once further. A reply 108 to the reply106 to the reply 104 is indented once further still.

When a user posts another reply 110 to origin message 102, it is shownindented only once, and is shown beneath message 104 and its children106 and 108. A subsequent reply 112 to origin message 102 is also shownindented once, and is shown beneath message 110. A reply 114 to message112 is shown indented twice and beneath message 112.

A display such as the display of FIG. 1 allows a user to rapidlyunderstand the structure of the discussion hierarchy and the place eachmessage has in the hierarchy. The place a message has in the hierarchycan be described in terms of two dimensions of the hierarchy: level anddepth. The depth of a message is the number of threads that contain themessage. For example, referring to FIG. 1, the depth of message 108 isthree because it is contained by the threads headed by messages 106, 104and 102. The depth of an origin message such as message 102 is zero.

The level of a message at a particular depth represents the number ofmessages at that particular depth that precede that message. Forexample, referring to FIG. 1, the level of message 112 is three becauseit has a depth of one and is preceded by messages 110 and 104, both alsoat a depth of one. The order of precedence within each hierarchicaldepth can be determined by any number of factors or combinationsthereof. In a threaded discussion group, the chronological order of themessages, as determined by the time and date of the posting of eachmessage, is most commonly used. When the records in the hierarchicaldata set represent containers such as folders, the alphabetical order ofthe names of the folders can be used. In addition, the user of thedisplay may select any field in the records, and thereby cause thecontents of that field to determine the order of precedence. The levelof an origin message such as message 102 is zero.

Referring again to FIG. 1, messages at a single hierarchical level, suchas messages 104, 110, and 112, are shown in chronological order, whilethe children of a message (that is, replies to the message, replies tothose replies, and so on) are shown beneath the message and above thenext message at the same hierarchical level. The messages displayed tothe user are generally stored in some sort of database such as a table.Each row of the table represents a message. Each message has multiplefields such as subject, author, text, date of posting, and so on. Eachcolumn represents one of the fields.

Conventional tools for managing such indented threaded discussions arenotoriously inefficient. Normally either multiple rows of the table mustbe updated upon the creation of a new message or multiple queries haveto be performed to display an indented thread. The number of rowsneeding updates could be as large as the number of messages in thethread.

Implementations of the present invention associate a tag with eachrecord in a hierarchical set of records, such that the tag is uniquewithin the hierarchical set of records. The tag is generally one of thefields of the records. Table 1 depicts a portion of a database tablerepresenting the discussion of FIG. 1 according to one implementation.

TABLE 1 Tag Depth Level Subject 0000 0 0 Bike Rides in the Bay Area 10001 1 Old La Honda 1100 2 1 re: Old La Honda 1110 3 1 re: re: Old La Honda2000 1 2 Page Mill Road 3000 1 3 The Bears Loop 3100 2 1 re: The BearsLoop

Each tag is a number having a plurality of digits, one for each of thedepths of the hierarchy. The hierarchy of Table 1 has four depths; thuseach tag has four digits. In one implementation, the digits are arrangedso that the most significant digit represents the first depth of thehierarchy (that is, the depth of the origin message), the next mostsignificant digit represents the second depth of the hierarchy, and soon. Other implementations employ other arrangements of the digits.

The value of each digit represents a level in the hierarchy. Assume thehierarchy of Table 1 has four levels. Then each digit can have a valuesranging from zero to three. A value of zero indicates that the messagedoes not exist at that depth in the hierarchy. Of course, other rangesof levels and depths can be supported, as will be apparent to oneskilled in the relevant art after reading this description. Oneimplementation supports 16 levels and 16 depths. In that implementation,the tag is a 16-digit hexadecimal number represented by a “big int,” asigned 64-bit number having values ranging from −2⁶³ to 2⁶³.

Each tag uniquely identifies the position of its record in thehierarchy. For example, the tag “3100” shows that the record is thefirst child of the third child of the origin message.

One advantage of the disclosed tag is that the tag of a record may bedetermined quickly and easily, without indexing the database, bymodifying the tag of a related record.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a process 200 for retrieving the parent of amessage in an indented threaded discussion according to oneimplementation. Process 200 receives a command from a user (step 202).The command identifies message 108 and requests retrieving the parent ofmessage 108. Process 200 modifies the tag of message 108 to produce akey. To do this, process 200 first selects the digit corresponding tothe hierarchical depth of message 108 (step 204). Referring to Table 1,message 108 has a depth of three. Therefore, process 200 selects thethird most significant digit of the tag of message 108. The depth ofeach message need not be stored in the table, but can be determined inreal time, with knowledge of the hierarchical depth represented by eachdigit. Where tags have digits arranged according to increasing depths inthe hierarchy, such as the tags of Table 1, one can select the digitcorresponding to the hierarchical depth of a message by simply selectthe least significant non-zero digit.

Process 200 then sets the value of the selected digit to a null value(step 206). In the tags of Table 1, the null value is zero. Of course,other values can be selected as the null value. The resulting key is“1100”, which is the tag of message 106, the parent of message 108.Process 200 then indexes the database only once by applying the key tothe database (step 208), thereby selecting the record for message 106.Process 200 then retrieves message 106 (step 210) and displays message106 to the user (step 212).

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a process 300 for retrieving the children of amessage in an indented threaded discussion according to oneimplementation. Process 300 receives a command from a user (step 302).The command identifies message 104 and requests retrieving all of themessages in the thread for which message 104 is the head. These messagesinclude the children of message 104, the children of the children ofmessage 104, and so on.

Process 300 modifies the tag of message 104 to produce a key. To dothis, process 300 first selects the digit corresponding to thehierarchical depth of message 104 (step 304). Referring to Table 1,message 104 has a depth of one. Therefore, process 300 selects the mostsignificant digit of the tag of message 104. Process 300 then sets thevalue of each digit corresponding to a hierarchical depth below thehierarchical depth of the selected digit to a wildcard value (step 308).The resulting key is “1XXX”, where “X” represents a wildcard value thatcan match any value.

In one implementation, applying a key to the database selects allrecords in the database having tags that match the key. Process 300indexes the database only once by applying the key to the database (step310), thereby selecting the records for the messages in the threadheaded by message 104. Referring to Table 1, the key “1XXX” matches thetags for records corresponding to messages 106 and 108. Process 300 thenretrieves messages 106 and 108 (step 312) and displays messages 106 and108 to the user (step 314).

Process 300 can also be used to delete a message. When a message isdeleted, so are all of its children. Process 300 selects a message andall of its children. The records corresponding to the selected messagesare then deleted.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a process 400 for adding a message to anindented threaded discussion according to one implementation. Process400 receives a command from a user (step 402). The command identifiesmessage 114 and requests replying to message 114. Process 400 modifiesthe tag of message 114 to produce a key. To do this, process 400 firstselects the digit corresponding to the hierarchical depth immediatelybelow the hierarchical depth of message 114 (step 404). Referring toTable 1, message 114 has a depth of two. Therefore, process 400 selectsthe third most significant digit of the tag of message 104. Process 400then increments the value of selected digit (step 406). The resultingkey is “3110”. Process 400 then indexes the database only once by addinga record to the database having the key as its tag (step 408). Therecord corresponds to the new message.

The invention can be implemented in digital electronic circuitry, or incomputer hardware, firmware, software, or in combinations of them.Apparatus of the invention can be implemented in a computer programproduct tangibly embodied in a machine-readable storage device forexecution by a programmable processor; and method steps of the inventioncan be performed by a programmable processor executing a program ofinstructions to perform functions of the invention by operating on inputdata and generating output. The invention can be implementedadvantageously in one or more computer programs that are executable on aprogrammable system including at least one programmable processorcoupled to receive data and instructions from, and to transmit data andinstructions to, a data storage system, at least one input device, andat least one output device. Each computer program can be implemented ina high-level procedural or object-oriented programming language, or inassembly or machine language if desired; and in any case, the languagecan be a compiled or interpreted language. Suitable processors include,by way of example, both general and special purpose microprocessors.Generally, a processor will receive instructions and data from aread-only memory and/or a random access memory. Generally, a computerwill include one or more mass storage devices for storing data files;such devices include magnetic disks, such as internal hard disks andremovable disks; magneto-optical disks; and optical disks. Storagedevices suitable for tangibly embodying computer program instructionsand data include all forms of non-volatile memory, including by way ofexample semiconductor memory devices, such as EPROM, EEPROM, and flashmemory devices; magnetic disks such as internal hard disks and removabledisks; magneto-optical disks; and CD-ROM disks. Any of the foregoing canbe supplemented by, or incorporated in, ASICs (application-specificintegrated circuits).

A number of implementations of the invention have been described.Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modifications may bemade without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.Accordingly, other implementations are within the scope of the followingclaims.

1. A method of tagging a datum in a hierarchical data set having aplurality of hierarchical levels and a plurality of hierarchical depths,the method comprising: (1) presenting a datum of an indented threadeddiscussion on a display; (2) determining a hierarchical level of thedatum; (3) determining a hierarchical depth of the datum; (4) assigninga tag to the datum, comprising: (i) determining the immediate parent ofthe datum; (ii) selecting a tag of the immediate parent of the datum,wherein the tag is a number having multiple digits each representing oneof the hierarchical depths of the hierarchical data set; (iii) selectinga digit of the selected tag that represents the hierarchical depth ofthe datum; (iv) assigning a value to the selected digit, the valuerepresenting the hierarchical level of the datum; (v) determining thenumber of children of the immediate parent of the datum that havealready been tagged; (vi) incrementing the number of children to obtainan incremented number; and (vii) setting the value of the selected digitto equal the value of the incremented number; and (5) storing an entryin a table as processor-readable code embedded within one or more massstorage devices, said table entry including the assigned tag, theselected digit representing the hierarchical depth, the assigned valuerepresenting the hierarchical level, and information pertaining to thedatum.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein: each datum represents amessage; the child of a datum represents a reply to the messagerepresented by the datum; and the parent of a datum represents amessage, a reply to which is represented by the datum.
 3. The method ofclaim 1, wherein: each datum represents a container; the child of adatum represents a container within the container represented by thedatum; and the parent of a datum represents a container which containsthe container represented by the datum.
 4. At least one computerincluding a processor programmed to execute a process for tagging adatum in a hierarchical data set having a plurality of hierarchicallevels and a plurality of hierarchical depths, the process comprising:(1) presenting a datum of an indented threaded discussion on a display;(2) determining a hierarchical level of the datum; (3) determining ahierarchical depth of the datum; (4) assigning a tag to the datum,comprising: (i) determining the immediate parent of the datum; (ii)selecting a tag of the immediate parent of the datum, wherein the tag isa number having multiple digits each representing one of thehierarchical depths of the hierarchical data set; (iii) selecting adigit of the selected tag that represents the hierarchical depth of thedatum; (iv) assigning a value to the selected digit, the valuerepresenting the hierarchical level of the datum; (v) determining thenumber of children of the immediate parent of the datum that havealready been tagged; (vi) incrementing the number of children to obtainan incremented number; and (vii) setting the value of the selected digitto equal the value of the incremented number; and (5) storing an entryin a table as processor-readable code embedded within one or more massstorage devices coupled with the computer, said table entry includingthe assigned tag, the selected digit representing the hierarchicaldepth, the assigned value representing the hierarchical level, andinformation pertaining to the datum.
 5. The computer of claim 4,wherein: each datum represents a message; the child of a datumrepresents a reply to the message represented by the datum; and theparent of a datum represents a message, a reply to which is representedby the datum.
 6. The computer of claim 4, wherein: each datum representsa container; the child of a datum represents a container within thecontainer represented by the datum; and the parent of a datum representsa container which contains the container represented by the datum.
 7. Anapparatus including a processor for tagging a datum in a hierarchicaldata set having a plurality of hierarchical levels and a plurality ofhierarchical depths, the apparatus further comprising: (1) presenting adatum of an indented threaded discussion on a display; (2) determining ahierarchical level of the datum; (3) determining a hierarchical depth ofthe datum; (4) assigning a tag to the datum, comprising: (i) determiningthe immediate parent of the datum; (ii) selecting a tag of the immediateparent of the datum, wherein the tag is a number having multiple digitseach representing one of the hierarchical depths of the hierarchicaldata set; (iii) selecting a digit of the selected tag that representsthe hierarchical depth of the datum; (iv) assigning a value to theselected digit, the value representing the hierarchical level of thedatum; (v) determining the number of children of the immediate parent ofthe datum that have already been tagged; (vi) incrementing the number ofchildren to obtain an incremented number; and (vii) setting the value ofthe selected digit to equal the value of the incremented number; and (5)means for storing an entry in a table as processor-readable codeembedded within one or more mass storage devices coupled with theapparatus, said table entry including the assigned tag, the selecteddigit representing the hierarchical depth, the assigned valuerepresenting the hierarchical level, and information pertaining to thedatum.
 8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein: each datum represents amessage; the child of a datum represents a reply to the messagerepresented by the datum; and the parent of a datum represents amessage, a reply to which is represented by the datum.
 9. The apparatusof claim 7, wherein: each datum represents a container; the child of adatum represents a container within the container represented by thedatum; and the parent of a datum represents a container which containsthe container represented by the datum.
 10. Computer-readable mediaembodying instructions executable by a computer including a processor toperform a method for tagging a datum in a hierarchical data set having aplurality of hierarchical levels and a plurality of hierarchical depths,the method comprising: (1) presenting a datum of an indented threadeddiscussion on a display; (2) determining a hierarchical level of thedatum; (3) determining a hierarchical depth of the datum; (4) assigninga tag to the datum, comprising: (i) determining the immediate parent ofthe datum; (ii) selecting a tag of the immediate parent of the datum,wherein the tag is a number having multiple digits each representing oneof the hierarchical depths of the hierarchical data set; (iii) selectinga digit of the selected tag that represents the hierarchical depth ofthe datum; (iv) assigning a value to the selected digit, the valuerepresenting the hierarchical level of the datum; (v) determining thenumber of children of the immediate parent of the datum that havealready been tagged; (vi) incrementing the number of children to obtainan incremented number; and (vii) setting the value of the selected digitto equal the value of the incremented number; and (5) storing an entryin a table as processor-readable code embedded within saidcomputer-readable media, said table entry including the assigned tag,the selected digit representing the hierarchical depth, the assignedvalue representing the hierarchical level, and information pertaining tothe datum.
 11. The media of claim 10, wherein: each datum represents amessage; the child of a datum represents a reply to the messagerepresented by the datum; and the parent of a datum represents amessage, a reply to which is represented by the datum.
 12. The media ofclaim 10, wherein: each datum represents a container; the child of adatum represents a container within the container represented by thedatum; and the parent of a datum represents a container which containsthe container represented by the datum.